What hardtail would you choose if you had £750?

BarryMcC

I've already had a lot of help from people on another forum to get me to a point where I'm (almost) ready to buy my second MTB. Still a bit of a newbie so all advice is hugely helpful.

I was going to get a Boardman Team or Voodoo Boker but Halfords (20 miles near me) didn't have any in stock and wouldn't order one in so I could test drive it with no strings attached. Because of this I refuse to buy from them.

So, I've whittled it down to the following bikes. I'm test riding the Norco, Jamis and Genesis on Thursday. I'm trying to think of not only the best bike but perhaps what represents best value - that is, below £750.

Specialised Rockhopper Expert - £720 at Evans/Dales
Specialised Rockhopper Comp - £600 at Leisure
Norco Charger - £580
Cube Attention - £562
Cube Acid - £634
Radon ZR Team 6.0 - £640
Canyon Yellowstone 5.0 - £608
Genesis Core 26.2 - £570
Jamis Durango Race - £650

Thanks a lot,

Barry

70\ʹspenguin

The radon by miles IMO. However on sale is the Radon 7.0 for even less than the 6 on bike-discount.de @ 749 euros! Thats amazing value!

Thats just what i would chose, but the only problem is not being able to test ride it.

felix.london

Second MTB? What's your current bike then? That would have the biggest effect on what my 2nd bike was going to be.

BarryMcC

That's a good question; context is everything. I had a Carrera Vulcan but been using my girlfriend's Specialised Rockhopper SL on and off for a few months too. It's a good ride. I also had a weekend ride of a Giant Talon 2 which, although tons of fun, was quite heavy.

As for the Radon, I am veering towards that but not being able to test drive it is an obstacle.

charliedontsurf

70\'sPenguin wrote:

The radon by miles IMO. However on sale is the Radon 7.0 for even less than the 6 on bike-discount.de @ 749 euros! Thats amazing value!

Thats just what i would chose, but the only problem is not being able to test ride it.

just looked shame its not this years one as the new one has a sid rl fork

waby1234

So you won't buy from Halfords because you can't test ride, but short list several bikes which you can't test ride...?

Greer_

TwellySmat wrote:

Is there a thread on this forum where these two haven't been mentioned at some point?

'My budget is £500'
'Buy a Rockrider'

'My budget is £3.5k'
'Buy a Rockrider'

'My budget is £200'
'Work harder, buy a Rockrider'

BarryMcC

You have a point. But, there's a qualitative difference between not being able to test drive because the company is based in Germany and not being able to because the company won't order in for a test drive (as almost all bike shops do).

And to be honest, I'm probably going to opt for a bike I've ridden.

I have noticed that Rockriders' have a bit of a cult following on this forum. What do you make of http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html ?

chez_m356

BarryMcC wrote:

I have noticed that Rockriders' have a bit of a cult following on this forum. What do you make of http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html ?

if you have already noticed this you must have read some of the threads, and if you haven't, read them and you can answer your own question, it isn't the No.1 recommendation because its crap :roll:

BarryMcC

I have read through the threads and after checking it myself I'm at a loss as to explain why I haven't come across it before (e.g. in reviews/forums), and it's not because of brand snobbery. It seems to have better kit than most £600-700 bikes.

Definitely going to check this out at a Decathlon store and test it out.

chez_m356

BarryMcC wrote:

It seems to have better kit than most £600-700 bikes.

it does, certainly better kit than any of the current spesh rockhoppers

swardchill

Has anyone ever ordered from the bike-discount.de website as that Radon is looking most impressive.

EH_Rob

Yep - not a whole bike, but some brakes. Good service, and they speak English.

swardchill

Thats good to know, the cube acid bought from them is over £100 cheaper than you can get over here even with delivery.

waby1234

BarryMcC wrote:

You have a point. But, there's a qualitative difference between not being able to test drive because the company is based in Germany and not being able to because the company won't order in for a test drive (as almost all bike shops do).

And to be honest, I'm probably going to opt for a bike I've ridden.

I have noticed that Rockriders' have a bit of a cult following on this forum. What do you make of http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html ?

Halfords rarely offer test rides anyway, a spin around the car park at best.

70\ʹspenguin

There is a Radon 7 in the "Your mountain bikes" forum. Contact the guy who bought his. He seems very pleased with his. The service from them is pretty good. In-fact, excellent when i have bought stuff from them.

charliedontsurf

shame they arnt selling any more of those radon team 7's
damn shame can i go the extra to this years 7 ?

BarryMcC

I've only ever heard great things about German websites like the one you meniton or the others. See the link below for more info. I asked pretty much the same question as you did.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... to-be-true

Dirtrider

why not go second hand, would make much more sense?

Get a ragley mmmbop/cotic, or whatever suits.

BarryMcC

To be honest, I don't have the knowledge to discern the good from the bad.

Test drove a Rockrider yesterday. Very impressed

Dirtrider

I see what you mean, however, your aying £800 for a new bike, that will lose near on half it's value as soon as you pay for it. and the spec won't be great.

Compare this to a 2nd hand hardtail, your going to get top spec for it, and not lose much money.

examples:

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1087790/

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1133101/

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1038583/

waby1234

But if the OP inadvertently bought the wrong bike/a faulty bike then you have no backup and have potentially lost that money on a bike which is then worth even less...?

Dirtrider

which is why he would ask people's opinions on this forum....

This is only a suggestion.

My point is the same for anything, if you buy a 2nd hand car, you get a lot more for your money. You can buy a 2nd hand Porsche for the same price as a brand new mondeo. Now that comes with the risk of no warranty etc, but you get a lot more car for your money.

Applying common sense to these argument often helps, if the OP goes and views a 2nd hand bike, and the owner seems genuine, the bike is clean and has no visible signs of real wear, then it's likely to be decent. Same applies as if he went and viewed a 2nd hand bike, and the bloke lived in a caravan, knew nothing about bikes and it was completely ruined.

waby1234

I think applying common sense though also suggests the OP should buy new and get piece of mind and a warranty.

BarryMcC

Thanks a lot for your comments. I am naturally a cautious person and if you combine this with a lack of confidence/know how in the mechanics of an mtb I'm only ever going to choose a new bike. I'm even unsure whether to buy a Canyon/Radon because of the logistical issues I’ll experience if I have a problem.

That's not to say you're wrong. In fact, the opposite is true. I recently bought a second hand car for example.

matt-h

BarryMcC wrote:

Thanks a lot for your comments. I am naturally a cautious person and if you combine this with a lack of confidence/know how in the mechanics of an mtb I'm only ever going to choose a new bike. I'm even unsure whether to buy a Canyon/Radon because of the logistical issues I’ll experience if I have a problem.

That's not to say you're wrong. In fact, the opposite is true. I recently bought a second hand car for example.

But if you get 2nd hand, the money potentially saved means you could send it into your LBS for a service.
As someone else pointed out, you wont lose to much money if you fancy a change or its not for you.

I wouldnt worry about a couple of things (potentially) wearing out over the next couple of months. It also means the money saved can be spend on experimenting with other tyres etc

MAtt

largephil

I agree with Dirtrider, could get a nice spec custom Mmmbop for that price 8)

waby1234

But the OP says he is naturally cautious and would prefer the piece of mind buying new. Yes a second hand bike would be a better spec but it doesn't fit in with the outlook of the OP. unless one of you guys is going along to offer advice during viewing any potential bikes?!!

Dirtrider

He asked for advice, I gave him some, I didn't say I was going to walk around looking at bikes with him.

I used to work as a bike mechanic, I wouldn't have much piece of mind buying a new bike seeing as how most of them are built by 14 year olds in your lbs on a saturday.

If you buy a new £750 bike, then really get into it (which surely the OP wants to, otherwise wouldn't be spending all that money on it), you would then spend another £500+ on upgrades, due to the bike having poor components.

Then the OP will realise the bike itself isn't that great and will end up spending £1500 plus on a new one anyway.

If he spent the £750 on a second hand one, he would be getting the £1500 plus bike straight away, and be saving a whole lot of money.

It's all opinions, all I know is, I would never buy a new bike now, unless I was spending £3k or more (which I never would) because I could egt the same bike as an ex demo or second hand for near on half the price.

charliedontsurf

what would you consider to be poor components ?
as ive just pulled the plug on a radon zr team 7 what parts are poor as far as i can tell the brakes arnt the best (formula RX) and the tires arnt everyone's favourites (nobby nick's)

Dirtrider

Right, I think your taking this a bit too literally.

Examples:

New bike:

Deore gears/cranks
Own brand hubs/rims
Own brand tyres (or fairly cheap branded)
Own band handlebars/stem/pedals/seat/seatpost
(Not saying just because it's own brand its bad)

2nd Hand Bike:

XT/XTR gears/cranks
Hope hubs/mavic rims
Maxxis tyres
Decent branded handlebars/stem etc
(These are all examples by the way, again, don't take literally)

I think its more that fact you get better quality parts for the same price. They will last longer and give better performance.